A wide variety of vehicle mountable devices for transporting ski equipment have been and are commercially available. A major sub-class of these devices are intended solely for transporting ski equipment on the vehicle. To transport ski equipment away from the vehicle, the user must wear the equipment or carry it by hand.
Another sub-class of ski equipment transporting devices are designed to transport equipment on a vehicle and then to be removed from the vehicle for transporting the equipment by hand away from the vehicle. This invention relates to the latter type of device.
Ski equipment transporting devices of the latter type generally are designed to carry several sets of skis or several sets of skis and boots. Such devices are larger, bulky and heavier than is desired for easy mounting and removal of the device from the vehicle and for negotiating the device along the ground.
Devices of the latter type generally also employ a pair of wheels and one or more additional skid surfaces so that the device also may be negotiated over yielding surfaces, such as soft, unpacked snow. However, such designs add to the bulk, complexity and cost of construction of these devices.
In view of these considerations it would be very desirable to provide a ski equipment transporting device which is both vehicle mountable and easily handled over both firm and soft surfaces, and further is modular in that it is designed to carry all the necessary equipment of one skier. Such a device can be sized to be conveniently handled by a single person. It further is desirable that such a device be easily lockable so all or essentially all of the equipment carried on the device can be locked to the device.